Kafkas Vakfi (Caucasus Foundation), n.d.

Revolutionary activity had began in South Ossetia as early as
1903. S. Kirov directed Bolshevik activities in the region from 1909,
and shortly after the outbreak of the February Revolution a soviet was
formed at Vladikavkaz.

The South Ossetia became a part of the Georgian Menshevik Republic
with the break up of the Russian empire in 1918, while the North
formed a part of the Terek Soviet Republic.

Fierce fighting took place in The North Caucasus during the ensuing
civil war (1918-21) and in January , 1919 white forces of General
Denikin occupied North Ossetia . In late March, 1920, however,
Vladikavkaz fell to the Red Army , and on November 17, 1920 northern
Ossetia was included in the newly formed Mountain ASSR as the Ossetian
Okrug . On July 7, 1924 Osetia was reorganized as the North Ossetian
Autonomous Oblast and on December 5, 1936, as the North Ossetian
Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. The south Ossetian Oblast was
organized within the Georgian republic on April 20,1922.

In 1936, North Ossetia was upgraded to Autonomous Republic, which in
fact had no meaning during Stalin's dictatorship. The Ossetians
were loyal to the Soviet Union during World War II, when the Germans
pressed to reach the oil fields of Baku and Grozny. After the war they
were rewarded in that their republic was enlarged at the expense of
the Chechen-Ingush ASSR and Stavropol krai. The Muslim Digor Ossets,
however, were deported to Central Asia.

In 1989, in the freedom of glasnost and Perestroika and frightened by
rising Georgian nationalism, the South Ossetians demanded unification
with North Ossetia. In December the next year, the Georgian Parliament
declared that South Ossetia was no longer autonomous and authorized
suppression of newspapers and bans on demonstrations. One issue at
stake was the language. Georgian was declared as official
language. The Ossetians declared Osetian as the official language of
South Ossetia. Fighting commenced in January 1991. During the
fighting, South Ossetians were drained of a large part of their
population. It is difficult to estimate the number of inhabitants in
today's South Ossetia. Most Georgians who lived in the republic
left for Georgia proper, and only a few small enclaves in South
Ossetia are still inhabited by Georgians

More than 100.000 Ossets fled from Georgia and South Ossetia to North
Ossetia. The fighting ended in July 1992 when a cease-fire, at the
initiative of Russian President Yeltsin, was agreed and a peacekeeping
force of Ossets, Georgians and Russians was set up. The agreement is
being observed by the CSCE in Tiflis. But since then little progress
has been made. South Ossetia is in a situation of permanent economic
crisis and there is a lack of almost everything including jobs,
clothes, food heating and electricity. Schools and universities are
closed because of lack of heating and books. The situation is worsened
by Georgia cutting electricity supplies, which has led to North
Ossetia running an electric cable from Russia through the mountain
range.

The conflict has resulted in increasing South Ossetia claims for a
reunification with North Ossetia and for a stronger affiliation with
the North Caucasian ethnic groups and republics. In 1990–91, when the
South Ossetia parliament was still dominated by leaders from the
Soviet period, the main claim was still to became part of the Russian
Federation.

After elections of a new leadership in 1993 and 1994 and because of
unsatisfactory support from Moscow the trends have changed towards
regional integration. These claims are supported by North Ossetia and
by the Confederation of Peoples of the Caucasus. The Confederation,
after the success in the Abkhaz war, threatened Georgia with war if
she repeats military action against South Ossetia.

Another problem is that The Ossetians are also involved in a conflict
with the Ingush, their neighbors to the east.

Editor note: These information is from datebase of The Centre of
Russian Studies (Norway) and The North Caucasus: Minorities at a
Crossroads (Helen Krag and Larsh Funch). (FT)